This was the occasion for afraud operation had not worked so well in Panama as it had in New Hampshire. Speaking at the new outburst of hypocritical breast-beating from Bush, whose vote (^)
commencement ceremonies of Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, Bush issued a
formal call to the citzens and soldiers of Panama to overthrow Noriega, asserting that "they ought to
do everything they can to get Mr. Noriega out of there." Asked whether this was a call for a military
coup against Noriega, Bush replied: "I would love to see them get him out of there. Not just thePDF-- the will of the people of Panama." Bush elaborated that his was a call for "a revolution--the (^)
people rose up and spoke for-- in a democratic election with a substantial - a tremendous- turnout,
said what they wanted. The will of the people should not be thwarted by this man and a handful of
these Doberman thugs." "I think the election made so clear that the people want democracy and
made so clear that democracy is being thwarted by onefor removing Noriega," Bush added, making his characteristic equation of "de man that that in itself would be the catalystmocracy" with a
regime subservient to US whim. Bush prevaricated on his own committment to disbanding the
Panamanian Defense Forces, saying that he wanted to "make clear... that there's no vendetta against
the Panamanian Defense Forces as an institution;" the US was concerned only with Noriega's
"thuggery" and "pariah" status. Bush seemed also to invite the assassination of Noriega by blurtingout, "No, I would add no words of caution" on how to do any of this. He slyly kept an escape hatch (^)
open in case a coup leader called on the US for support, as in fact later happened: "If the PDF asks
for support to get rid of Noriega, they wouldn't need support from the United States in order to get
rid of Noriega. He's one man, and they have a well-trained force." Bush also seemed to encourage
Noriega to flee to a country from which he could not be extradited back to the US, which soundedlike a recipe for avoiding legal proceedings that could prove highly embarrassing to Bush
personally and to the whole US government.
During this period, Admiral William Crowe, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff,
attempted to convince the US commander in Panama, Gen. Frederick F. Woerner, to accept abrigade-sized reinforcement of 3,000 troops in addition to the 12,000 men already stationed in (^)
Panama. Woerner declined the additional men, which the Pentagon had intended to despatch with
great fanfare in an attempt to intimidate Noriega and his triumphant supporters. At this point the
Pentagon activated preparations for Operation Blue Spoon, which included a contigency plan to
kidnap Noriega with the help of a Delta force unit. There were discussions about whether anattempt could be made to abduct Noriega with any likelihood of success; it was concluded that (^)
Noriega was very wily and exceedingly difficult to track. It was in the course of these deliberations
that Defense Secretary Cheney is reported to have told Crowe, "'You know, the President has got a
long history of vindictive political actions.''Cross Bush and you pay,' he said, supplying the names
of a few victims and adding: Bush remembers and you haby Bush, the military commanders concurred in Bush's announcement of a brigade-sizedve to be careful." [fn 42] Thus intimidated
reenforcement for Woerner, plus the secret despatch of Delta forces and Navy Seals. On July 17,
Bush approved a plan to "assert US treaty rights" by undertaking demonstrative military
provocations in violation of the treaty. Woerner was soon replaced by General Maxwell Reid "Mad
Max" Thurman, who would bring no quathe Southern Command on September 30. lms to his assignment of aggression. Thurman took over at
In the wake of this tirade, the US forces in Panama began a systematic campaign of military
provocations which continued all the way to the December 20 invasion. In July the US forces began
practicing how to seize control of important Panamanian military installations and civilianobjectives, all in flagrant violation of the Panama Canal Treaty. On July 1, for example, the town of (^)
Gamboa was seized and held for 24 hours by US troops, tanks, and helicopters. The mayor of the
town and 30 other persons were illegally detained during this "maneuver." In Chilibre, the US
forces occupied the key water purification plant serving Panama City and Colon. On August 15,
Bush escalated the rhetoric still further by proclaiming that he had the obligation "to kidnap
frankie
(Frankie)
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